FC Barcelona host Royal Antwerp in the first game of the Champions League group stage on Tuesday at the usual 9.00pm CEST kick off time. If you need to know what time that is where you are in the world, this page should help you to do just that.
The Catalans are set to play first Champions League match of the season, at their temporary ground at Montjuic as the renovation of Camp Nou goes on and welcome Royal Antwerp to the city as their Group H campaign.
Xavi’s men have moved up the gears after on opening day 0-0 LaLiga draw with Getafe and coming into the match against the Belgians on the back of a 5-0 win over Real Betis on Saturday.
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Barcelona vs Royal Antwerp – Possible lineups
Xavi has just a couple of injury issues within his Barcelona squad. Araujo is still unavailable, despite making a return to training, as is Pedri. Fermin Lopez is back from suspension and replaced Unai Hernandez in the squad
Antwerp are without a host of key players including Ortwin De Wolf, Davino Verhulst, Bjorn Engels, Sam Vines, and Kobe Corbanie.
Barcelona predicted XI: Ter Stegen; Cancelo, Kounde, Christensen, Balde; Gavi, De Jong, Gundogan; Yamal, Lewandowski, Felix
Antwerp predicted XI: Butez; Bataille, Van den Bosch, Coulibaly, De Laet; Keita, Ekkelenkamp, Vermeeren; Balikwisha, Janssen, Muja
Competition/Round: 2023-24 Champions League, Group H, Matchday 1
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Pedri, Ronald Araujo (out)
Antwerp Outs & Doubts: Björn Engels, Ortwin De Wolf, Kobe Corbanie, Jacob Ondrejka
Date/Time: Tuesday, September 19, 2023, 9pm CET (Barcelona), 8pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria), 3pm ET, 12pm PT (USA), 12.30am IST (India, Wednesday)
Venue: Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Montjuïc, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Referee: Radu Petrescu (ROU)
VAR: Ovidiu Haţegan (ROU)
Storylines
Barcelona are unbeaten in five La Liga games this season, scoring 13 goals and conceding just four in the process. The Spanish champions are coming off a decisive 5-0 win over Real Betis on Saturday in which new signings Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo scored while returning talent Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres also excelled. The latter two have stood out so far — Torres has three goals so far, while Lewandowski has two — but there seems to be a team-wide sense of joy that feels like a staple of the Barcelona way this season.
Where to watch Barcelona vs Royal Antwerp?
For fans in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Barcelona vs Royal Antwerp will be shown live on TNT Sports 4 , and is available to stream online live through the TNT Sports App.
Two of them come up top, with Raphinha stepping in for an impressive Ferran Torres in what will be the Brazilian’s first start since he was red-carded at Getafe in the Blaugrana’s season opener.
On the other side of Robert Lewandowski, Gavi acts as a false left winger meaning that Xavi will abandon the 4-3-3 with two widemen which puts Joao Felix on the bench.
The Reds are making their first appearance in the group stage of the Champions League, though they played in the first round of the erstwhile European Cup in 1957 against Real Madrid. They are led by former Barca midfielder Mark van Bommel, who won the Champions League with them in 2006.
He does not have any major absentees apart from Björn Engels, who is a long-term absentee, and Sam Vines, who was accidentally left out of Antwerp’s squad list for the competition. Vines is also injured at the moment.
